The Chainsmokers
Breaking the boundaries between indie, dance, and pop, The Chainsmokers have crafted a chart-topping, award-winning style of their own. After debuting with 2014's number one dance hit "#Selfie," Drew Taggart and Alex Pall topped this success with 2016's Halsey collaboration "Closer" -- one of the most-streamed songs of all time -- and that year's Grammy-winning "Don't Let Me Down." Both singles were certified diamond, as was "Something Just Like This," a team-up with Coldplay from 2017's chart-topping debut album Memories…Do Not Open. Their winning streak continued with a pair of gold-certified albums, Sick Boy (2018) and World War Joy (2019), while 2022's So Far So Good became their fourth album to top the U.S. Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. With 2023's album Summertime Friends, EPs including 2025's Breathe and 2026's Love Is Kind, and a long-running Las Vegas residency, The Chainsmokers kept pushing their music forward.
Pall and Taggart first made a name for themselves by creating remixes of their favorite indie bands that garnered tens of millions of streams. The duo released their official debut single, "#Selfie," which celebrated and skewered social media narcissism, in January 2014. The track hit number one on the Billboard dance chart, while its video featured cameos by Snoop Dogg and David Hasselhoff, fueling the song's viral popularity. More singles, including "Kanye" and "Let You Go," followed.
In 2015, they issued the Bouquet EP on Disruptor Records, a softer and more indie-flavored effort that featured the single "Roses," which was certified double platinum and hit number one on the U.S. Top Dance Songs chart. The song also earned The Chainsmokers nominations for the Billboard Music Awards in the Top Dance/Electronic Artist and Top Dance/Electronic Song categories. After playing over 300 shows in 2015, including dates at festivals like Lollapalooza, Firefly, Tomorrowland, and Ultra, the duo returned in 2016 with "Don't Let Me Down," a diamond-certified collaboration with Pittsburgh pop singer Daya that topped the Billboard dance chart and later won the Best Dance Recording Grammy Award. That year, The Chainsmokers also performed as part of the Tilt Tour, the first ever fan-sourced tour.
The follow-up single to "Don't Let Me Down" would carry the duo to new heights. Featuring Halsey on vocals, "Closer" began its slow climb to the top of the singles chart in the summer of 2016. Once it hit number one, it remained in the top spot for over ten weeks, breaking the record previously held by Drake's "One Dance" on its way to diamond status. As their chart dominance continued, The Chainsmokers released the Collage EP, which featured collaborations by Phoebe Ryan, XYLØ, and Charlee. Their debut record, Memories…Do Not Open, arrived in April 2017. Featuring guests Emily Warren, Jhene Aiko, Florida Georgia Line, and hit singles "Paris" and the Coldplay collaboration "Something Just Like This," Memories debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Certified double platinum in the U.S., the album also achieved platinum or multi-platinum status in eight other countries.
At the start of 2018, the pair veered in a more contemplative and lyrical direction with the single "Sick Boy," which landed on the EP of the same name. Sick Boy debuted on the Billboard 200 just outside the Top 50 and reached number one on the Top Dance Albums Chart. That December -- and with a handful of singles added -- Sick Boy the EP was expanded into Sick Boy the LP, The Chainsmokers' official sophomore full-length. The album's guests included Warren, Drew Love, Kelsea Ballerini, Aazar, and NGHTMRE, and was certified gold in the U.S.
The following year, the duo took the same approach with their third album, World War Joy, which compiled monthly singles that included Hot 100 hit collaborations with Illenium, Lennon Stella, Bebe Rexha, and tourmates 5 Seconds of Summer. Upon release, the set debuted at number 65 on the Billboard 200, topped the Top Dance Albums Chart, and was also certified gold. The Chainsmokers then collaborated with composer/producer Andrew Hollander on the soundtrack to the 2020 romantic drama Words on Bathroom Walls.
In January 2022, The Chainsmokers hit the Top 40 with "High," the first single from their fourth album So Far So Good. Released that May, the album featured production from the duo as well as Ian Kirkpatrick and Ethan Snoreck. Also featured were writing contributions from Warren, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Faheem Najm, and Akon. So Far So Good debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic albums Chart, becoming the duo's fourth album to do so. It was followed in 2023 by the non-album track "Make Me Feel" with Cheyenne Giles.
More singles followed, including "My Bad" with Shenseea and "Self Destruction Mode" with Bludnymph. Both were included on October 2023's full-length Summertime Friends, which hit number 15 on Billboard's Top Electronic/Dance Albums chart. In 2024, the duo returned with the No Hard Feelings EP, which included the singles "Addicted" with Zerb and Ink and "Friday" with Fridayy. The moody track "White Wine & Adderall," featuring vocals by Beau Nox, was released in July 2025, while collaborations with Anna Sofia ("Helium") and BUNT. and Izzy Bizu ("Spaces") arrived over the next few months. That October saw the release of the Breathe EP, which included contributions from Daya and Absolutely. Remixes of Taylor Swift's "The Fate of Ophelia" and Sombr's "Back to Friends" closed out the year.
Early in 2026, The Chainsmokers worked with Ilsey and John Summit on "All the Time" from Summit's album CTRL ESCAPE. That May's Love Is Kind EP reunited the duo with Oaks (a.k.a. Winona Oak), who appeared on their 2018 single "Hope." ~ Neil Z. Yeung & Heather Phares
